ARGYLE DUFF-ED UP BY ROBINS
The defeat brought Argyle’s unbeaten home start to the season to an end – and left Robins boss Duff a very happy man.
“I think it’s fair to say that no-one saw this run coming, but we’ll see where it takes us. We are not making anything of it,” he said.
“The mantra has stayed the same ‘just win the next game’ and it was the same last season when I came in and we were in the bottom two.
“Just because we are in the top three now it doesn’t change.
“It’s just as important as it ever was, ‘win the next game.’
“I am not really interested in what other people say about us.
“It’s great when they are saying nice things about you, but again it’s like last season when they weren’t saying such great things about us: it’s outside noise.
“We need to concentrate on what is going on in our camp and the only people who can influence that is our staff and our players.”
Victory was sealed when midfielder Ryan Broom’s stoppage time shot hit home central defender Will Aimson and wrong-footed home keeper Alex Palmer to make it 2-0.
Luke Varney gave in-form Cheltenham a 40th-minute lead rising unmarked at the far post to head home Sean Long’s cross from the right.
Chris Hussey had skimmed a cross off the Argyle bar in the opening minutes, but after that it was all Argyle, with fit-again Dom Telford forcing Scott Flinders to go full stretch.
Danny Mayor looked set to score on the follow-up but his goal-bound effort was deflected around the post by Cheltenham’s Plymouth-born skipper Ben Tozer.
Flinders made an even better save to turn Joel Grant’s shot on to the bar.
Palmer palmed over Gavin Reilly’s header before Town’s on-loan Bristol Rovers striker went off injured.
At the other end dangerman Mayor continued to threaten, sending a shot just wide after cutting in and then teeing up Callum McFadzean who also fired inches wide.
Frustrated Argyle boss Ryan Lowe admitted: “We have got to score. If you don’t score you don’t win.
“What I don’t want to become is just a possession-based team that doesn’t win. It’s not going to happen. We have to score goals at one end and keep them out at the other.
“I said the other night we could have had plenty of goals at Crawley and last Saturday at Port Vale, we haven’t and we’ve lost at Port Vale and we’ve drawn at Crawley.
“Now we’ve lost today at Home Park which is more disappointing.”